This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for providing an electronic transaction gateway that provides a single gateway to multiple transaction methods.
A payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider that authorises transactions such as credit card payments for e-businesses, on-line retailers, etc and is intended to provide the equivalent of a physical point of sale (POS) terminal located in most retail outlets. Payment gateways protect credit card details by encrypting sensitive details to ensure that information is passed securely between the customer and the merchant and also between the merchant and the payment processor.
There are many different payment solutions and services available for use, and if a merchant wishes to use one of those solutions or services, it is necessary to integrate a dedicated API into their transaction management system in order to provide an interface between their system and the selected solution or service. Thus, if multiple solutions and services are required to be supported, each one requires a respective integration of a dedicated API into the merchant's transaction management system.
The difficulties and cost associated with organising and maintaining multiple payment solutions and services within a transaction management system, not to mention the processing overhead required for their adequate operation, has resulted in many merchants simply opting for a single, or a very limited number, of payment solutions and services to be supported within their system. On the other hand, this can be unnecessarily limiting, both to the customer and the merchant, in terms of the solutions and services that could be offered. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide an apparatus and method that enables a merchant to avail themselves of multiple transaction solutions and services, without the need for each selected solution or service to be individually integrated into their transaction management system.